The ontogeny of exploratory object manipulation behaviour in wild orangutans

Schuppli, Caroline; Cauwenberghe, Anaïs Van; Setia, Tatang Mitra; Haun, Daniel B. M.

doi:10.1017/ehs.2021.34

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…Perhaps the orangutans’ unique socioecology, life history, and arboreal lifeway prepares this species for a stronger preference for exploring and using objects with the mouth (e.g., O’Malley and McGrew 2000 ). The mothers’ arboreal lifestyle forces their infants to use their hands to cling onto them and to use their mouth to explore the environment (Schuppli et al 2021 ). These natural predispositions could generate richer and more complex sensorimotor schemes which may have favored the emergence of novel oral actions in the FPT context.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raising the level: orangutans solve the floating peanut task without visual feedback

et al. 2021

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Chimpanzees and orangutans are able to generate innovative behaviors to solve complicated physical problems. For example, when presented with an out-of-reach peanut at the bottom of a vertical tube (floating peanut task—FPT), some of them spontaneously spit water into the tube until the peanut floats to the top. Yet, it is unclear whether this innovative solution results from repeating those actions that bring the peanut incrementally closer to the top or from anticipating the solution before acting. In the current study, we addressed this question by presenting three naïve orangutans with an opaque version of the FPT that prevented them from obtaining visual information about the effect of their actions on the position of the peanut. One of the subjects solved the opaque FPT in the very first trial: he collected water from the faucet and poured it into the opaque tube repeatedly until the hitherto non-visible peanut reached the top. This provides evidence for the first time that orangutans can potentially solve the FPT without relying on sensorimotor learning, but to some extent by mentally representing the problem.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Raising the level: orangutans solve the floating peanut task without visual feedback

et al. 2021

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“…Due to their exceptionally slow life history and development (a dependency phase of 6 to 9 years: van Noordwijk et al, , 2018Wich et al, 2009) and large brains (Taylor & van Schaik, 2007), orangutans offer an opportunity to disentangle the trajectories of different play types. Indeed, skill acquisition has been reported to vary depending on species, ecology, and culture (Jaeggi et al, 2008(Jaeggi et al, , 2010Schuppli et al, 2016a, b;Schuppli, van Cauwenberghe et al, 2021b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Play Behavior Varies with Age, Sex, and Socioecological Context in Wild, Immature Orangutans (Pongo spp.)

Kunz,

Falkner,

Aprilinayati

et al. 2024

Int J Primatol

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Play is thought to serve different purposes at different times during ontogeny. The nature and frequency of play are expected to change accordingly over the developmental trajectory and with socio-ecological context. Orangutans offer the opportunity to disentangle the ontogenetic trajectories of solitary and social play with their extended immature phase, and socio-ecological variation among populations and species. We evaluated the frequency of play in 39 immature individuals across two populations (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii, at Tuanan, Borneo, and P. abelii at Suaq, Sumatra), age (0–11 years), sex, and social context, using more than 11 500 h of full-day focal observation data. We found independent age trajectories of different play types, with solitary object and solitary locomotor peaking before social play. Social play partners changed during ontogeny, and male immatures were more likely to engage in non-mother social play than females. Overall, social play was more frequent at Suaq than Tuanan, linked to the more frequent availability of partners. Furthermore, per time in association with conspecifics, Tuanan immatures were as likely to engage in social play as their peers at Suaq, suggesting similar intrinsic motivation. Increasing fruit availability correlated with both longer associations and increased social play frequency in the less sociable population of Tuanan, but not at Suaq. Our findings on orangutans support evidence from other species that different play types follow different developmental trajectories, vary with sex, social opportunities, and ecological context. Although drawing functional inferences is challenging, the distinct developmental trajectories reflecting adult sociability and behavioral repertoires may indicate that play serves several, non-mutually exclusive functions during ontogeny.

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“…In terms of environmental factors, evidence from experiments with wild chimpanzees suggests that individuals are more likely to explore a novel foraging problem when they have a low, rather than high, energy balance [44]. Observational studies of wild great apes' natural, everyday exploratory behavior show that immatures have the highest exploration rates [45,46]. Furthermore, in wild orangutans' exploration is socially induced on the developmental and proximate-immediate levels [47,48], and more sociable populations tend to show higher exploration rates and larger innovation repertoires [47,49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curiosity in wild orangutans: ecological, social, and intrinsic effects assessed during a field experiment

Schuppli

Nellissen

Carvajal

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The readiness to interact with, and explore, novel stimuli – i.e., curiosity – are cornerstones of innovation. Great apes show the broadest and most complex innovation repertoires. However, little is known about the factors that affect curiosity in wild apes. To shed light on wild apes’ curiosity, we measured the reactions of wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) to an experimental apparatus. Compared to adults, immatures showed higher tendencies to visually explore and approach the apparatus but were more likely to show signs of agitation. The presence of conspecifics who approached the apparatus increased exploration and approach tendencies. Prevailing habitat food availability positively affected exploration but had a negative effect on approach tendencies. These findings show that intrinsic, social, and ecological factors affect reactions to novelty in wild orangutans and suggest that exploration, neophobia and neophilia are independently regulated. Therefore, to understand the evolution of innovative tendency, factors acting on different elements of curiosity must be considered.

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The ontogeny of exploratory object manipulation behaviour in wild orangutans

Cited by 6 publications

References 92 publications

Raising the level: orangutans solve the floating peanut task without visual feedback

Raising the level: orangutans solve the floating peanut task without visual feedback

Play Behavior Varies with Age, Sex, and Socioecological Context in Wild, Immature Orangutans (Pongo spp.)

Curiosity in wild orangutans: ecological, social, and intrinsic effects assessed during a field experiment

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